U.S. House of Representatives
Asa Hutchinson's 105th Congress portrait
In 1992 Hutchinson's brother, Tim, was elected to Congress in Arkansas's third congressional district, when veteran U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt retired. In 1996, when his brother decided not to run for a third term in the House in order to seek the open Senate seat caused by the retirement of David Pryor, Hutchinson ran for the seat and won.
Hutchinson, who had at first decided to run for an open seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives from Sebastian County, defeated Ann Henry, a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in November 1996. Although Henry outspent Hutchinson during the campaign, the district's heavy Republican tilt and his brother Tim's presence atop the ballot helped Asa win with 52% of the vote. Tim Hutchinson also won his campaign for the U.S. Senate and served one term, losing his reelection bid in 2002.
In 1998, Hutchinson was reelected to the House with far less difficulty, taking 80% of the vote against an underfunded Democratic challenger. He was reelected unopposed in 2000.
In office, Hutchinson compiled a voting record as conservative as his brother's. He led efforts to crack down on illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine.Hutchinson also served as one of the managers of the impeachment trial of President Bill Clintonin 1998. In 1999, Hutchinson was involved in the effort to reform campaign finance laws and offered an alternative proposal to the bill by Christopher Shays and Marty Meehan, which he opposed on the grounds that it "went too far" by attempting to ban television commercials by legal third-party organizations. Hutchinson did support John McCain's and Russ Feingold's Senate bill.[10]
Hutchinson unsuccessfully tried to modify the civil asset forfeiture reform bill that sought to prevent police abuse of its power to seize private property on mere suspicion of being linked to any criminal investigation. His amendment would allegedly have empowered the police to continue profiting from drug money.[11]
Drug Enforcement Administration
Hutchinson as Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security
Hutchinson and U.S. Representative Frank Wolf tour a DEA drug testing facility in Northern Virginia in 2001
In 2001, at the beginning of the George W. Bush administration, Hutchinson was appointed Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He was confirmed by a 98–1 Senate vote.[12]
Department of Homeland Security
After the September 11 attacks, Congress created theDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS). President Bush tapped Hutchinsonto lead the Border and Transportation Security Directorate, a division of the DHS. The Senate confirmed Hutchinson by unanimous consent on January 23, 2003.[13] Hutchinson left office as Undersecretary on March 1, 2005.[14]
Other
Hutchinson agreed to serve on The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force in December 2010.[15][16][17] He told the Associated Press he agreed to join the task force because he believed it was "something important for our national security and our war on terrorism."
In the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the National Rifle Association (NRA) assembled a task force of experts in homeland security, law enforcement training, and school safety to review school security standards in select areas of the country. The task force's stated goal was to produce a comprehensive plan to address the safety of children in schools and to prevent such shootings in the future. Hutchinson led the task force. On April 2, 2013, he presented the National School Shield plan during a news conference at the National Press Club.[18][19]
InMay 2022, Hutchinson said he would consider running for president in 2024 even if Donald Trump ran again and that Trump's candidacy would not be a factor in his decision.[20][21] He added, "I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go a different direction."[20]